


Why Can't I Hold On?

by imthehotgirl



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anchors, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Alteration, Mental Abuse, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 08:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17577050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imthehotgirl/pseuds/imthehotgirl
Summary: Theo gets captured by Monroe and her men. Liam does everything he can to bring his friend home, both physically and mentally.





	Why Can't I Hold On?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shaneo6930](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shaneo6930/gifts).



> Well, I don't know if you were expecting this or not, shaneo6930, but I wrote this for you. Happy Birthday, babe!! <3  
> Fair warning to y'all, but this one isn't exactly 'resolved', but it does have as much of a happy ending as a fic like this can get. That being said, hope you enjoy! :o)

It had been a routine stakeout. A stakeout that went sideways. Fast.

Liam and the others were soon under attack. And in the melee between supernatural creatures and hunters Liam lost track of Theo.

It wasn’t until the sound of gunfire faded and Monroe and the remaining hunters took off in their respective vehicles that Liam felt it-Theo’s absence. It was like a simultaneous punch to the gut and face being apart from his Anchor so unexpectedly.

He scrambled to get to Corey’s side. “Corey, quick! We’ve got to get to Mason and Nolan. Theo…he…Monroe has him. We need to…” he trailed off, fear gripping him, his hands trembling as he clutched the front of Corey’s shirt in an attempt to keep himself standing.

“We’ll bring him back,” Corey told him reassuringly, already texting Mason.

Liam swallowed convulsively, giving Corey a curt nod in response as the two of them headed in the direction of Mason’s car.

**  
“Wakey, wakey, Theo,” a voice crooned softly yet with a touch of evil.

“Monroe?” Theo questioned groggily, seeming to come out of a fog as he took in his surroundings.

“In the flesh, sweetheart,” she confirmed, her eyes hardening at the edges as she smiled.

Theo glared at her, fighting against the wolfsbane covered restraints that bound him into the chair he was sitting in.

“What the hell are you going to do to me?” he snarled. He couldn’t shake the immediate relief he felt at not seeing Liam or any of the others tied up with him.

“Oh, Theo. We’re going to have so much fun!” Monroe declared, slowly running her knife along Theo’s jaw.

Theo raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Clearly you and I have different definitions of fun,” he replied dryly.

Monroe pulled away from him sharply, her face set in a frown. “There’s no need to be sarcastic,” she snapped.

“Yeah? Well, then this whole kidnapee/kidnapper relationship you’re trying to cultivate won’t be as ‘fun’ as you anticipated,” Theo muttered.

“Oh, with what we have in store for you I’m sure I’ll be enjoying myself here soon,” Monroe said, a twisted smile marring her features.

Theo paled at her words, thoughts of Liam flooded him and how he could possibly protect the younger boy in his current state, keep Liam and the rest of the pack safe from what this monstrous woman had planned.

**  
Three Months Later…

They had barely gotten Theo away from Monroe and her men when they’d finally tracked the chimera down twelve weeks after he’d first been taken from them.

Liam had instilled the help of Mason, Corey and Nolan (as usual), along with Chris Argent and Derek. With their help Liam was able to come up with a viable plan of action and retreat.

Monroe had Theo and her men holed up in a dingy basement in a rundown house just a few miles south of where the Dread Doctors had originally interacted with Theo when he’d been younger and first manipulated by the evil scientists.

The correlation between everything left Liam feeling dizzy and nauseated if he thought about it in-depth. But what was killing him was the guilt over having not found and come to Theo’s aide far sooner than they had.

Mason was quick to reassure him that he was just being a good leader, insuring everyone’s safety to the best of his ability. Including Theo’s. If they had acted too rashly who knows what would’ve befallen the already vulnerable chimera?

Mason’s pep talk just left Liam with a deep ache inside of him for his Anchor. Especially after finally seeing Theo again in the state Monroe had been keeping him.

During initial surveillance runs of the house and the operations within, to the untrained eye Theo appeared healthy, but upon closer inspection it was easy to tell that he was leaner than he used to be and his eyes were deadened, not filled with the light and fire Liam was used to seeing.

The night Liam and his pack finally rescued Theo, ending up in one of Derek’s safehouses, Theo had been dosed with wolfsbane (and God knew what else), leaving him unconscious for a dangerous amount of time.

To say Liam was worried was putting it mildly. And not only because he hadn’t actually communicated with Theo yet. He knew he’d have to wait for awhile longer before the poison was completely gone from Theo’s system and they truly saw what state his Anchor was in.

“Good. You should be worried,” Derek told him.

Liam swallowed hard, not realizing he’d spoken aloud to the small group gathered around him. “Why?” he demanded, the fear he felt kicking up a notch when he caught Corey and Nolan averting their gazes. “What aren’t you telling me?!” he growled, his eyes flashing yellow for a brief instant.

He watched Corey draw in a shaky breath before finally looking at him.

“Monroe wasn’t just dosing Theo with wolfsbane like we thought, Liam. Nolan and I overheard two of her guards talking tonight before Argent caught up with us. I don’t understand the logistics of it, but she’s been torturing him mentally and manipulating his memories,” Corey explained.

“We won’t know the full impact of it all until he wakes up,” Mason told him softly.

“But we should prepare for the worst,” Argent concluded.

“Which is what exactly?” Liam wondered aloud, all to aware of the fact that the others didn’t know how to answer the question any more than he did.

**

I’M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.

Theo growled, his eyes closed tightly hoping to shield himself from the images of the beta, Scott’s beta, continually showing his true colors.

I’M NOT GOING TO HELP YOU.

There was no escape. Even with his eyes closed Theo continued to see and hear the beta repeatedly betray him no matter what he did to prove his loyalty.

I’M NOT GOING TO SAVE YOU. I’M GOING TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU’D DO TO ME.

Theo’s eyes flew open, sparking gold, the beta’s voice echoing in his head.

I’M GOING TO USE YOU AS BAIT.

**

Liam awoke with a jolt. Nolan hovered over him, clearly the one who’d woken him up.

“Sorry, Liam. It’s just…it’s Theo. He’s awake,” Nolan said, giving Liam an apologetic smile before pulling him to his feet.

“Theo’s awake?” Liam repeated Nolan’s words hoarsely, not daring to believe what Nolan was telling him to be true until he saw Theo for himself.

He swallowed thickly, his tongue darting out of his mouth to wet at his lips as he slowly followed Nolan down a hallway of the safehouse until they stood in front of the door of what consisted of Theo’s bedroom. It wasn’t much. But considering they were in a safehouse that wasn’t saying a whole lot. The others’ rooms had similar décor and furnishings.

Liam had just put his hand on the doorknob when Derek and Argent came up next to him. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard Mason yell at him down the hallway.

“Liam, you really shouldn’t do this. You don’t know what you’ll be walking into,” Derek advised.

Liam scowled at the older werewolf. “Like hell. Theo’s my Anchor and he’s been through something horrific. He needs me right now, and I’m not about to leave him by himself when he’s already been through so much,” he explained forcefully, pulling the door open.

“Liam, NO!” he heard Mason scream as Corey and Nolan kept him from running after Liam like Liam knew he would’ve if given the chance.

The muffled murmuring of voices was all Liam could pick up as the door finally, mercifully, closed behind him as he stepped fully into the room.

His eyes immediately fell on the bed in the middle of the room. He sighed in relief upon seeing Theo sitting up and watching him, awake just like Nolan had promised.

He gave Theo a small smile, cautiously approaching the bed.

“Hi, Theo,” he murmured. He watched as Theo’s eyes roamed over him warily. “How’re you feeling?” he asked once it became obvious Theo wasn’t going to respond to his initial greeting.

“It was a mistake,” Theo finally replied.

“What…What was a mistake, Theo?” Liam asked, not daring to show his excitement over Theo talking to him.

“You never should’ve done it,” Theo continued as if Liam hadn’t spoken, his voice hollow, monotone as he spoke, his eyes lifeless and unfocused as he stared at a spot over Liam’s shoulder.

“Done what?” Liam asked softly, slowly drawing even closer to Theo, desperate to reach out and touch his Anchor now that they were within arms-length of one another.

“Pulled me from Hell!” Theo snarled, his eyes flashing gold as he suddenly lunged from the bed and tackled Liam to the floor.

Once there he proceeded to claw at Liam and punch him in the face.

Liam could faintly hear Mason’s yells and broken sobs as the others continued to keep his best friend from entering the room like he was so desperate to.

Returning his focus to what was happening in front of him, Liam tried breathing slowly through his nose.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to stop. You don’t have to stop,” he choked out, his vision blurry as he looked up at his Anchor.

Theo suddenly went still, his chest heaving as he continued to hover over Liam.

Liam watched silently as the other boy crawled off of him and began trembling as they held each other’s gazes.

Liam slowly sat up on his elbows, leaning over on his side before he spat up blood. He turned back toward Theo, concern flooding him as the chimera continued to tremble almost uncontrollably.

“Theo, are you all right?” he asked, just as the others finally barreled into the room, Mason in the lead.

Mason, seeing the blood on the floor and on Liam’s face immediately went on the defensive. “Why the hell should it matter when he’s obviously hurt you?!” he demanded.

“I’m fine, Mase. I only look like this because I didn’t fight back, okay? Theo needs me right now. I think-I think he’s starting to remember certain things,” Liam murmured, wiping at his face with the back of his hand.

“Liam?” Theo whimpered from the corner of the room he was currently sitting in.

Liam’s heart dropped hearing the chimera’s voice sound so small and terrified.

“You’re sending me back. After everything I’ve done…of course you are. You have to,” Theo insisted.

“What is he talking about?” Corey whispered.

“Hell,” Liam responded solemnly, swallowing hard. “He thinks I’m sending him back to Hell.” Without another word to the others he crawled across the floor until he sat in front of Theo.

“Theo? Theo, look at me please,” he begged the chimera. He sighed in relief when Theo finally lifted his head and their eyes met. “Thank God,” Liam breathed softly, grasping at Theo’s arm. “No, all right? No. I’m not sending you back to Hell. We need each other, remember?” he whispered hoarsely, tears welling in his eyes as he hoped to get through to his Anchor.

Theo shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t-I don’t remember. And I don’t think I’m the person you remember either,” he replied.

“What do you remember?” Liam asked gently.

“Everything before I went to Hell. Tara. You pulling me from Hell. The Ghost Riders. But I don’t-I don’t know how we escaped. How we could’ve survived something like that,” Theo explained.

“You saved me. We saved each other. We have since then repeatedly. Do you remember…do you remember anything after that?” Liam asked cautiously, not daring to bring up any mention of the hunters, Monroe especially, in case it would trigger a violent response from Theo again. Better the chimera come upon those memories himself, if at all, Liam reasoned, reluctantly putting his desire for revenge against Monroe aside.

Theo shook his head. “Just waking up here, you being here when I woke up and everything that followed. I’m sorry, Liam.”

“It’s okay, Theo. You weren’t in your right mind. But I’m tougher than I look, right? And we’re going to get you remembering everything no matter how long it takes,” Liam promised.

“So, trust is important right now, isn’t it?” Theo asked uncertainly.

Liam huffed out an amused laugh. “Yes. Very,” he replied, his lips lightly brushing Theo’s forehead. He carefully got to his feet and helped Theo to stand as well. “Are you hungry?”

When Theo nodded in response, Liam led him passed their small group of friends and out of the room.

**  
Later that night Liam passed Theo’s room, intent on heading to his own when he heard Theo call out for him.

“Liam?”

“Yeah? What’s up?” Liam asked, stepping into the room.

“Would you stay with me?” Theo pleaded quietly.

“Yeah, of course,” Liam readily agreed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He was soon laying in bed next to Theo, his arms underneath his head, resting against the pillows as he stared at the ceiling.

“Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there something between us?” Theo asked.

“How do you mean?” Liam questioned, his brow furrowing.

“I just…I’m really confused. I don’t know whether we hate each other or like each other or what,” Theo murmured.

“Oh. Well, it’s kinda complicated, I guess? We really didn’t like each other for a while, but then we had to learn to work together. So, we eventually grew to tolerate one another. I don’t think it helped any that you kept saving my ass,” Liam teased gently. “I didn’t…I really didn’t know how else to respond except to save you back. And somewhere through all the chaos we began trusting one another and you-you became my Anchor.”

“I’m your Anchor?” Theo asked, a note of surprise in his voice. 

“Yeah. Yeah, you are. It’s one of the reasons our bond is so strong now,” Liam explained.

“One of the reasons?” Theo wondered aloud.

Liam cleared his throat. “Um, yeah, well, we trust each other now,” he said.

“Right. You said that already,” Theo reminded him.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, yeah, I did,” Liam muttered, a weak laugh escaping him.

“You found me, didn’t you?” Theo asked.

“When?” Liam asked, trying to keep up with Theo’s thought process as his own heart picked up speed.

“The night you all rescued me from Monroe and her men. You were the one who found me,” Theo replied.

“You remember Monroe?” Liam asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Unfortunately. But Liam, I never…I never thanked you, did I?”

Liam could barely process Theo’s question, too preoccupied by the idea that the chimera had remembered something all on his own.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he muttered, a small smile gracing his features as he felt his friend gently take a hold of his hand, interlocking their fingers.

“Yes, I do,” Theo insisted softly. And before Liam fully realized what was happening Theo was hovering over him, his free hand gently cupping the side of Liam’s face. Liam cautiously reached out, brushing aside a lock of hair that had fallen into Theo’s eyes just as Theo’s lips met his own.

Liam could’ve sworn he felt the world slow to a crawl as the two of them kissed one another in a languid, unhurried fashion. He smiled still feeling the pressure of Theo’s hand in his own, their noses lightly brushing and puffs of air against his cheek when Theo broke away. Theo buried his face in Liam’s neck, his free hand fisting a section of Liam’s t-shirt in his grasp as he let out a shuddering breath.

Liam rubbed the back of Theo’s head in a soothing motion, his fingers running through the strands of the other boy’s hair as he waited for Theo to speak.  
“Theo?” he eventually prompted.

“I don’t even… Is this real?” he asked hoarsely, letting loose a weak, wet laugh.

Liam’s stomach twisted, realizing the chimera was crying. “Yes. Yes, Theo. It’s real.”

“Okay, because I didn’t want to scare you, or maybe myself if this all ended up being a dream, but I’m having a hard time trusting myself right now. I don’t know what all Monroe did to me in terms of messing with my memories. So yeah, some are still there, intact, others are altered to make me think you’re the one I have to destroy at all costs and others I think are lost forever, unless I’m able to recall them somehow. But I do-I do remember making myself the promise that if we were reunited and I remembered you, remembered us, that I’d kiss you. Kiss you like my life depended on it, because it sort of does now. You’re my lifeline to reality,” Theo said, another humorless laugh falling from his mouth.

“Theo, I’m not going anywhere. No matter how hard you try to push me away at times you’re stuck with me, all right? I’ll gladly be your Anchor like you’ve been mine. Trust in me. Trust our bond. And know that I’ve never regretted the decision to rescue you from Hell. Know that I love you. And know that if at any time you need me to remind you of any of this I will,” Liam promised, his lips brushing lightly against Theo’s again. 

“Thank you,” Theo murmured, his eyes drifting closed as the two of them finally settled down further into the bed.

Liam wasn’t sure what the future held for him or Theo or any of them really, but he did know that he was going to do everything he could to keep his promise because that’s what you did for the ones you loved.

THE END


End file.
